ABOUT THE WORK

In contrast to the subject matter of his parents, Angelito Antonio and Norma Belleza, Marcel Antonio’s body of work is influenced by modernism and 1980s post-modernism and contains themes of narrative and pseudo-narrative figurative art that can be likened to magical realism. The works of Antonio are characterized by having comprehensible expressionism with themes imbued in mystery. He employs images that juxtapose fictitious elements against a backdrop of realism. Lupus in Fabula, literally “the wolf in the story,” is a proverb used when a certain person speaks of someone or something and they or it suddenly appears, almost as if that person was summoning them. Antonio perfectly captures the proverb in this particular work, creatively encapsulating a visual representation of it and rendering it through his distinctive style. Amid her trance and subliminal depths of her mind, the woman seems to demand the presence of a certain man who immediately brings his existence unbeknownst to the one who summoned him. This represents a melancholic yearning for the cravings of the flesh resulting from social alienation. Employing his “blue funk erotica,” a subtle sort of fetishism that borders on the drama of despondency and pensive sadness is evoked by Antonio, instead of relying on sensual eroticism as a source of carnal passion.